anathema
Americannoun
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anathemas,
plural
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anathemata
plural
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a person or thing detested or loathed.
That subject is anathema to him.
-
a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction.
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a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication.
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any imprecation of divine punishment.
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a curse; execration.
noun
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a detested person or thing
he is anathema to me
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a formal ecclesiastical curse of excommunication or a formal denunciation of a doctrine
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the person or thing so cursed
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a strong curse; imprecation
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of anathema
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin, from Greek: “a thing accursed, devoted to evil,” originally “devoted,” from ana(ti)thé(nai) “to set up” + -ma, noun suffix
Explanation
Something that one absolutely and positively cannot stand is anathema. Garlic is anathema to vampires (ditto for stakes and daylight). So is kryptonite to Superman or a silver bullet to a werewolf. Originally the term anathema comes from the Catholic practice of denouncing a particular individual or idea that was antithetical to the Catholic Church. If done to a person, it excommunicated them, meaning they could no longer partake in the church's sacraments (with presumably pretty poor consequences for the soul.) That's a lot worse than kryptonite.
Vocabulary lists containing anathema
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But amongst MPs in the other place next door, and outside the Houses of Parliament, the idea of continuing to allow aristocrats seats by dint of birth is anathema to many.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
Commercials were anathema to Hastings, but Netflix has now built an ad business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025
District Judge William G. Young, a Ronald Reagan appointee, recently pointed out that use of masked law enforcement officers had long been considered anathema to American ideals.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2025
An inherent suspicion of good writing is probably anathema to producing good writing.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2025
Trades where you fork over 2 percent a year just to be in them were anathema.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
As he pronounced anathemas on you and your kind, the smile peeked out beneath the sneer.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2011
Theologians from both traditions eventually concluded that the 16th century anathemas were more a function of crossed wires than a denial that salvation is a no-strings-attached gift from God.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Welles-Houseman partnership ended badly, with Welles hurling blazing Sterno heaters at Producer Houseman and howling anathemas at him in that voice of Zeus.
From Time Magazine Archive
She utters her prophecies and anathemas as if the blood of Cassandra were coursing through her veins.
From Time Magazine Archive
His hands were clenched nervously, his eye riveted to that spot upon the carpet, his lips moved from time to time, as if framing anathemas against the would-be destroyer.
From Out of a Labyrinth by Lawrence L. Lynch
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
